Hair ornament.



A. BURK.

HMH ORNAMENT.

APPLlcATLoN man mme. a2. 1911.

Patentd Dec. L 119W.

ib i.

.ALFRED BURKE, 0F BROOKLYN, NEW YORK.

HAIR ORNAMENT.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented ec., a, iwf?.

Application led March 22, 1917. Serial No. 156,706.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ALFRED BURKE, a citizen of the United States,residing at the boroughY of Brooklyn, in the city of New York, Kingscounty, and State of New York, have invented certain new and usefulimprovements in Hair Ornaments, of which the following is aspecification.

My invention relates to hair ornaments such as barrettes, bow holders,braid clasps and similar articles.

The objects of my invention are to provide a hair ornament made offlexible material which is self-adjustable to the quantity of hair to beclasped and which may be applied so that the entire ornamental frame isdisplayed to view.

A further object of this invention iS to provide the ornament withprongs for engaging the hair thereby eliminating the hinged tongueconstruction heretofore generally used and reducing the cost ofmanufacture of the article.

To these ends my invention consists in the novel construction andarrangement of parts hereinafter described and particularly pointed outin the claim.

In the accompanying drawings, illustrating a preferred embodiment of theinvention, Figure l is a top plan view of the or nament, Fig. 2 is aside elevation thereof, and Fig. 3 is a view showing the ornament in itsflexed condition in which it is applied to the hair.

Referring to the drawings, the device comprises an ornamental frame lmade of Celluloid, shell, spring metal or any other suitableflexiblematerial and of any desired shape and size. The frame is slightly bentlengthwise, as seen in Fig. 2, to conform to the curvature of the head.Projecting inwardly from the ends of the frame are a pair of oppositelydisposed prongs 2 which serve to fasten the ornament in the hair` byclasping the hair between the prongs and the frame. Preferably theprongs are formed integral with the frame but if desired they may bemade of separate pieces cemented or otherwise suitably fastened to theframe. Vhen the prongs are integral with the frame the entire ornamentmay be made in one operation by cutting or stamping it from a sheet ofmaterial and with very little waste stock. It is obvious that theornament may be provided with more than one pair of prongs if sodesired.

To apply the ornament to the hair, the frame is grasped in the lingersand bent back as shown in Fig. 3 so as to spread the prongs apart. Theprongs are then inserted in the hair and the frame isl released therebyspringing the prongs together and catching a quantity of hair betweenthe prongs and the frame. By reason of the flexibility of the frame, theornament will adjust itself to the quantity of hair engaged and will besecurely held in place irrespective of the amount of hair that isclasped. When the ornament is in place only the p-rongs are concealed bythe hair and the entire ornamental frame is displayed to view.

l do not limit myself to the precise construction illustrated anddescribed herein as I am aware that various modifications may be madewithout departing from the scope of my invention.

What I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

A hair ornament comprising a frame of flexible material curved in thedirection of its length, and prongs projecting inwardly from the centralportion of the opposite ends of the frame each extending partiallyacross the frame opening, substantially as described.

ALFRED BURKE.

[Copies of this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressingthe oimmissioner of Patente,

` Washington, D. IU.

